toedtoes wrote:plasticmaster, in that case, I suggest that you wait to turn them in to the HOA until a time when you are NOT bringing your RV home and make it about emergency vehicles. Don't talk to the neighbors about bringing your RV home anymore.

If you call the HOA around the time that you are bringing your RV home, it will come across as being your main reason. As I mentioned before, this becomes a fight between "RVs and street parking" both unliked by HOAs.

Instead, wait and then call and make it about emergency vehicle access. Explain that the street parking has become so extreme that you are afraid that a fire truck will not be able to get into the cul de sac if needed. Don't mention the RV at all.

This gives the HOA a strong safety reason for enforcing the rule rather than a personality dispute. It has more teeth for them. Leaving the RV out of it (and don't immediately bring the RV home after the rule is enforced) will keep the HOA from turning this against you.

2012Coleman wrote:So the people that told you that they would not move are already not your friendly type of neighbor so you shouldn't care about pi$$ing them off. I don't have the same types around me, but I did have the same issue, except they park in front of my house, and I need the entire width of the street to get backed in. So here is what I did - I went to the houses around me and told them that although I don't mind them parking on the street in front of my house, I need the space when I'm backing my camper in. Now, If I come home with it, and cars are parked in front, I still have to knock on doors, but there is no issue.

In your case, after being told no, I'd simply add in that I'd hate to get the HOA involved as parking in the street isn't allowed, but parking my camper in my driveway for X amount of time is allowed. I can come over and advise you the day before I bring it home - OK? Then give them a have a nice day.

If that doesn't work, call the HOA.

So this works if they are home to answer the door whwn you knock. However, what do you do if you come home and they are parked in the street, but no one answers the door when you knock? This has been my experience with 2 different neighbors several times.

You need to have it figured out before you come home with the TT. You can either be somewhat passive aggressive or just live with it. The point of it is your following the HOA rules, the street parkers are not. Inform them in the nicest way possible - by letter if needed, that you need to have access to your driveway. If your HOA doesn't respond, inform the board that you will be consulting with a real estate attorney as to why HOA rules seem to apply to you, but not others. That actually solved an issue I was having not related to RV parking.

If you can't do that, then follow the advice given by toedtoes. Like I said these people already don't seem to like you - so do what is necessary to get it done and don't give up. Meanwhile, wave at them in a friendly manner and kill them with kindness.

Good luck.

Experience without good judgment is worthless; good judgment without experience is still good judgment!

I am currently the President of a condo association and it is the third association I have been the President of. In addition I have created several associations in projects I have built. Fortunately or unfortunately, this makes me very familiar with the process and what works and what does not.

The Association is run by a Board which may or may not hire a management company. Whether they do or do not, the Board is ultimately the decision maker on financial decisions and whether or not to enforce rules. They are your neighbors, work for no money, and have a very unrewarding job. They are often berated, second guessed, and vilified by the neighbors they volunteer their time to serve. Someone has to do it! Most often they are the only association members that have actually read the rules and regulations documents attached to their property.

I would strongly suggest going to the President of the Association and speaking with him or her about your problem. I am going to bet he or she would much prefer this initial approach versus a formal complaint. They can most likely explain why the rule is not enforced. It is very likely the owners prefer being able to park in the street and it would be a very unpopular move to try to stop the process. It is also normally somewhat difficult to change the documents rules once written but it can happen. I have seen these battles more times than I care to but usually in the long run they do not end well for the party involved.

Your neighbors most likely could care less about your RV and in some cases for some reason don't like them or are jealous. They have no incentive to change their parking habits to accommodate you at their inconvenience and most likely have been parking there for years. When faced with the conflict, if the Board becomes involved, from experience I can tell you they will decide it is one of the most important items in the world. I wish you luck and hope you do approach the President.

Didn’t have the time to read all the posts and as a result a couple avenues weren’t read.

First, is there room on your 234ft driveway to build a “garage” for the RV and leave it in your driveway (upside, no storage fees, out of sight, downside is the onetime construction cost). How much and how flat is your land.

plasticmaster wrote:I live in a subdivision at the end of a cul de sac and keep my 34' travel trailer in storage 2 miles away. My driveway is very long, 235', with plenty of room to park it while loading for a camping trip. Lately however, it's been really difficult to bring the camper home because of neighbors parking their cars in the street ( while their driveway is empty). Street parking is against our HOA rules unless you have a lot of guests over and your driveway is full of cars. I need the full cul de sac to safely turn around and back down my driveway. I have one neighbor who gladly moves for me when I need to bring camper home. However, the other 2 neighbors either aren't home, tell me no one is home with the keys to move it, or have told me "No, I'm not going to move it". Remember, their driveway is empty. What should I do here? I hate to turn folks in to HOA, but do I have any other choice since I've already tried to politely ask them first? I'm looking for input from camping folks who may understand my dilemma. Thanks.

Not trying to be sarcastic or a wise-guy here, but ... have you considered getting a smaller RV?

For instance, our driveway is a 500 foot uphill one with a right angle bend in it. We lived where we live when we went RV shopping and so ... we bought an RV that we could deal with in that situation. In our case no neighbors were involved, but the point is we adapted the RV to the situation - not the other way around.

plasticmaster wrote:I live in a subdivision at the end of a cul de sac and keep my 34' travel trailer in storage 2 miles away. My driveway is very long, 235', with plenty of room to park it while loading for a camping trip. Lately however, it's been really difficult to bring the camper home because of neighbors parking their cars in the street ( while their driveway is empty). Street parking is against our HOA rules unless you have a lot of guests over and your driveway is full of cars. I need the full cul de sac to safely turn around and back down my driveway. I have one neighbor who gladly moves for me when I need to bring camper home. However, the other 2 neighbors either aren't home, tell me no one is home with the keys to move it, or have told me "No, I'm not going to move it". Remember, their driveway is empty. What should I do here? I hate to turn folks in to HOA, but do I have any other choice since I've already tried to politely ask them first? I'm looking for input from camping folks who may understand my dilemma. Thanks.

Not trying to be sarcastic or a wise-guy here, but ... have you considered getting a smaller RV?

For instance, our driveway is a 500 foot uphill one with a right angle bend in it. We lived where we live when we went RV shopping and so ... we bought an RV that we could deal with in that situation. In our case no neighbors were involved, but the point is we adapted the RV to the situation - noit the other way around.

I understand what you're saying, but I've lived here for 9 years and bought my current camper 3 years ago. It wasn't a problem until a year or 2 ago when new neighbors moved in and started parking on the street instead of their driveway, which is against HOA rules. I'm following the rules and they are not. The fact that they're not following the rules is making it very difficult to bring my camper home.

Take a few photos of the cars in the street. Send to the HOA with a nice letter noting that these neighbors are relatively new to the subdivision and may not be aware of the rules that prohibit parking in the street. Also mention that this activity occasionally keeps you and others from accessing your drive way.
Ask them to investigate and make sure they are aware of the rules.

You pay an HOA for a reason, use them. If the neighbors get mad, etc. so what! Sounds like they're not that good a neighbor anyway.

okhmbldr wrote:Take a few photos of the cars in the street. Send to the HOA with a nice letter noting that these neighbors are relatively new to the subdivision and may not be aware of the rules that prohibit parking in the street. Also mention that this activity occasionally keeps you and others from accessing your drive way.
Ask them to investigate and make sure they are aware of the rules.

You pay an HOA for a reason, use them. If the neighbors get mad, etc. so what! Sounds like they're not that good a neighbor anyway.

This seems like very solid advice. If you are afraid of neighbor repercussions maybe you can send an anonymous letter regarding the street parking and ask that it be investigated.